The US has given up trying to lobby the United Nations to exempt Americans from the International Criminal Court and prosecution of war crimes committed by US troops overseas including rape, torture and other crimes against humanity. The US had secured such an exemption over the past two years but it faced wide opposition this year in part due to the prison torture scandal in Iraq. Even though the UN will not be voting on the exemption, the US has already received agreements from about 90 countries not to prosecute Americans. Meanwhile in Iraq, The Bush administration has granted its own troops and personnel immunity from prosecution by Iraqi courts for killing Iraqis or destroying local property after June 30.